Message dispatch system for telecommunications network

ABSTRACT

A system and method for dispatching messages from a user to at least one recipient over a telecommunications network is disclosed. The system includes a messaging system and an authentication system. The messaging system receives user messages, retrieves contact information for recipients on a user&#39;s contact list, and attempts to deliver messages to recipients on the list. The system may continue attempting to deliver messages to recipients until it finds a recipient who is available to receive the message. The authentication system is used to ensure the recipient is a person and not a machine. The messages could be audio messages delivered using a telephone network or messages delivered over an SMS network.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to telecommunications, andspecifically to systems for dispatching messages over telecommunicationsnetworks.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunication networks allow users to send messages over the phone,using SMS, email and/or via other modes of communication. Even when arecipient is unavailable, messages can be left in the form of voicemailand/or texts that can be listened to or viewed by the recipient at alater time. However, in some circumstances a user may need to ensurethat a message is delivered directly to a recipient who can listen toand/or read a message right away, rather than at a later time. Forexample, the user may need a ride home. As another example, the user maybe traveling abroad and may need funds transferred to his or heraccount. As still another example, the user may have been arrested andin need of someone to post bail. In some circumstances, the user may notbe able to repeatedly call parents or other friends or family until theyreach a recipient. This may happen, for example, if the user's cellphone battery is very low, if they only have enough change to make onephone call at a pay phone, or if they are only allowed one phone callfrom jail. In these situations, conventional messaging systems used inconjunction with telecommunications networks are not sufficient toensure that a recipient will receive the user's message in an adequatetime frame, or that the message won't simply be overlooked or ignored.

There is a need in the art for a system and method that addresses theshortcomings discussed above.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, a method of sending audio messages over atelecommunications network includes the steps of receiving a call from auser, requesting user identification information from the user,receiving the requested user identification information from the user,recording an audio message from the user, retrieving a list of contactsassociated with the user identification information, automaticallycalling a first recipient from the list of contacts, determining thatthe first recipient is not available to receive the audio message,automatically calling a second recipient from the list of contacts, anddelivering the audio message to the second recipient when the secondrecipient is available to receive the audio message.

In another aspect, a method of sending messages over atelecommunications network includes steps of receiving a message from auser, where the message includes user identification information, andtext. The method also includes steps of retrieving a list of contactsassociated with the user identification information, automaticallysending a first preliminary message to a first recipient from the listof contacts, determining that the first recipient is not available toview the digital message, automatically sending a second preliminarymessage to a second recipient from the list of contacts, and deliveringthe digital message to the second recipient when the second recipient isavailable to view the message.

In another aspect, a message dispatch system for delivering messages tousers over a telecommunications network includes a device processor anda non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that areexecutable by the device processor to implement a messaging module thatcan automatically dispatch a user supplied message to recipients in auser's contact list, and an authentication module that can automaticallydetermine if a recipient is available to receive the user suppliedmessage.

Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the disclosure willbe, or will become, apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following figures and detailed description. It isintended that all such additional systems, methods, features, andadvantages be included within this description and this summary, bewithin the scope of the disclosure, and be protected by the followingclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings and description. The components in the figures are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustratingthe principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, likereference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an audio message dispatch system,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a process of dispatching an audio messagefrom a user to at least on recipient in a network of contacts, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a sub-process of the process of FIG. 2,according to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a set of authentication methods, accordingto an embodiment;

FIGS. 5-9 are schematic views of a dispatch message receiving an audiomessage and attempting to deliver the audio message to an availablerecipient, according to an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an SMS message dispatch system, accordingto an embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a process of dispatching an SMS messagefrom a user to at least on recipient in a network of contacts, accordingto an embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a sub-process of the process of FIG. 11,according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments provide a system and method for dispatching messagesfrom a user to at least one recipient over a telecommunications network.More specifically, the embodiments provide a system and method thatensures urgent messages are dispatched to at least one availablerecipient in situations where a user is only able to make one phone call(or send one digital message). The system further helps ensuredispatched messages are listened to and/or viewed at the time themessage is sent, rather than relying on voicemail, email or textmessages that may be stored for later viewing by a recipient. The systemincludes a messaging system and an authentication system. The messagingsystem receives user messages, retrieves contact information forrecipients on a user's contact list, and attempts to deliver messages torecipients on the list. The system may continue attempting to delivermessages to recipients until it finds a recipient who is available toreceive the message. The authentication system is used to ensure therecipient is a person and not a machine (either an answeringmachine/voicemail system or another system that passively receivesmessages on behalf of a recipient).

The exemplary system can be used for a variety of different messagessent over a variety of different telecommunications networks. Forexample, messages could comprise audio messages (voice messages), textmessages (or any short message service messages), or other kinds ofdigital messages. If SMS based messages are used, the messages may alsoincorporate any kind of multimedia, such as images, videos, audio, orother kinds of multimedia. To facilitate communication, messages can bedelivered over any kinds of telecommunications networks. These include,but are not limited to: telephone networks, computer networks, theInternet, as well as any other suitable kind of telecommunicationsnetwork.

Using the exemplary systems and methods, a user need only make a singlecall (or send a single text) to ensure an urgent message is delivered toat least one available recipient in a network of user contacts. This hasthe effect of saving the user time, money (in the form of calling ortexting charges) while also providing peace of mind in situations wherea user can only communicate for a limited time (for example, from apayphone). Moreover, the exemplary systems greatly reduce or eliminatethe chances that an urgent message will be missed or ignored by allpotential recipients by authenticating that a call or text has beenreceived by a person and not a machine.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an audio message dispatch system 100,which is in communication with a user 102 and a network of messagerecipients 104. Audio message dispatch system 100, also referred tosimply as dispatch system 100, may comprise one or more computingsystems including processors 110 and memory 112. Memory 112 may comprisea non-transitory computer readable medium. Instructions stored withinmemory 112 may be executed by the one or more processors 110. As oneexample, dispatch system 100 may comprise one or more servers running inthe cloud.

Dispatch system 100 is further comprised of a calling module 120 and anauthentication module 122. Additionally, dispatch system 100 includesdata storage 130, which may be part of memory 112. In other cases, datastorage 130 could be associated with a separate database.

Calling module 120 may be configured to receive calls from a user andmake calls to one or more recipients. In addition, calling module 120may be configured to receive and store various kinds of information. Foreach user of the system, calling module 120 stores user identificationinformation 140. User identification information can include a user'sname, a user ID, a user's phone number, or any other suitable personallyidentifying information. Associated with each user of the system is alist of contacts, which may be stored as contact information 142.

Calling module 120 may also store message information 144. Messageinformation may include audio messages left by a user of the system.Audio messages may be stored in any suitable format that can be playedback when dispatch system 100 has reached someone on the user's list ofcontacts.

Authentication module 122 is configured to authenticate that therecipient of a message is a person and not a machine (such as ananswering machine/voicemail system, or any other automated system forreceiving messages). In some cases, authentication module 122 mayfurther include provisions for ensuring that a message is not onlyreceived, but also listened to by the recipient.

Authentication module 122 may use one or more kinds of authenticationinformation 146, which may be stored in data storage 130. Authenticationinformation 146 can include any suitable information used by dispatchsystem 100 to determine that the recipient of a call is a person. Insome cases, authentication information 146 includes informationpertaining to one or more kinds of challenge-response tasks that may beperformed by authentication module 122 to determine if the recipient isa person rather than a machine.

As seen in FIG. 1, dispatch system 100 receives an incoming message fromuser 102. In this case, user 102 is at a payphone 182. User 102 may calla number associated with dispatch system 100 via telecommunicationsnetwork 170. Once connected to dispatch system 100, user 102 may leave avoice message 180 with dispatch system 100. In some cases, user 102 mayalso provide user identification information so that dispatch system 100knows which user is leaving a message and, thus, which network ofrecipients should be contacted.

FIG. 1 also depicts a network of recipients 104 for the exemplary user102. This includes a set of contacts whom user 102 has identifiedbeforehand as suitable contacts to receive messages. In this example,the contacts include a first recipient 190 (the user's mother), a secondrecipient 192 (the user's father), a third recipient 194 (the user'sgrandfather), and a fourth recipient 196 (the user's friend). Uponreceiving a message from user 102, dispatch system 100 may begin callingthese recipients (using telecommunications network 170) until anavailable recipient is found, as described in further detail below.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a process of operating an audio messagedispatch system, according to an embodiment. As indicated in FIG. 2,some of the steps in this process may be performed by the user of thesystem (user 200), while other steps may be performed by the dispatchsystem (dispatch system 201).

Starting in step 202, a user 200 may call dispatch system 201. Dispatchsystem 201 receives the call in step 204. In some cases, dispatch system201 may request identification information from the user in step 206. Instep 208, user 200 may provide identification information including aname, ID number or any other suitable information that can be used bydispatch system 201 to identify the user and the associated list ofcontacts.

In step 210, dispatch system 201 receives identification informationfrom the user and then prompts user 200 to record an audio message instep 212. User 200 may leave an audio message in step 214 in response tothis prompt. As user 200 is leaving the audio message, it may berecorded by dispatch system 201 in step 216.

Once the user has left his or her message, the user may hang up in step218. At this point, there is no further action that must be taken by theuser since dispatch system is able to automatically dispatch therecorded audio message to at least one recipient on the user's contactlist who is currently available.

In step 220, dispatch system 201 retrieves a list of contacts for user200. In some cases, dispatch system 201 uses the identificationinformation received in step 210 to lookup the user and their associatedcontact list. This information may include, for example, phone numbersfor each contact. In step 222, dispatch system 201 attempts to deliverthe audio message to at least one recipient in the user's contact listwho is currently available to listen to the message.

FIG. 3 depicts a sub-process associated with step 222 in FIG. 2.Specifically, FIG. 3 depicts a set of steps that may be performed bydispatch system 201 in order to deliver an audio message to at least onerecipient who is available. Once the user's contact list has beenretrieved in step 302, dispatch system 201 may select one of therecipients in the contact last in step 304. In some embodiments,contacts may be ranked within a list so that dispatch system 201 selectsfirst the contact with the highest ranking. For example, if the user isa student, the user may list his or her mother or father as the highestranked contact. This would ensure that the dispatch system attempts todeliver the message to the student's parents before trying extendedrelatives and/or friends. In other cases, however, the first contact tobe called may be selected randomly from a list of contacts.

In step 306, dispatch system 201 may call the selected recipient. Instep 308, dispatch system 201 checks to determine if the call wasconnected. If the call failed to connect, dispatch system 201 may returnto step 304 to select another recipient in the contact list. If the listis ranked, dispatch system 201 may select the next contact to call basedon ranking. At this point the process repeats through step 304, step 306and step 308 until the dispatch system is connected to one of therecipients.

In step 310, after a call is connected, dispatch system 201 may use achallenge-response type task to confirm that the recipient (and not amachine) is available to listen to the audio message immediately.Exemplary challenge-response type tasks are listed in FIG. 4 and mayinclude, but are not limited to: asking a recipient to repeat a phrase402, asking a recipient to enter a specified number 404, and/or using anaudio CAPTCHA task 406. Here, “audio CAPTCHA” refers to a particulartype of challenge-response task in which a participant is asked todiscern a particular audible word or phrase from a distorted recording.Using an audio CAPTCHA may allow the system to confirm that therecipient is a person and not a bot or other automated system capable ofproviding simple responses.

In some embodiments, the challenge-response task may also be used toconfirm that the person picking up the phone call is the selectedrecipient from the user's contact list and not another person withaccess to the same telephone/mobile line. In such embodiments, thechallenge-response task could include asking the person on the phone toprovide a predetermined passphrase 408 or other private information. Byproviding such information, the person would simultaneously indicatethat they are not a machine and also that they are the intendedrecipient of the audio message.

In step 312, dispatch system 201 determines if the recipient (and not amachine) is available based on the challenge-response task provided instep 310. If the recipient is unavailable, dispatch system 201 mayreturn to step 304 to select another recipient from the contact list.If, however, the recipient successfully completes the challenge-responsetask, dispatch system 201 proceeds to step 314 to deliver the audiomessage to the recipient.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the dispatch system could request thatthe recipient confirms that he or she has listened to the audio messagein step 316, before hanging up. This could be done by having therecipient complete any of the previously discussed challenge-responsetasks, or take any other action to indicate they've listened to themessage.

FIGS. 5-9 depict schematic views of a scenario in which a user 500 hascalled an audio message dispatch system 502. In particular, user 500 isa teenager who needs a ride home from a movie theatre. User 500 has acellular phone 501 with a very low battery. Therefore, user 500 willlikely be unable to make many calls before their phone powers off. Inthis case, user 500 calls dispatch system 502 and leaves an audiomessage 510 indicating that they need a ride home from the theatre. Uponreceiving (and storing) this message, dispatch system 502 begins tryingto call the user's contact list, which has been previously provided todispatch system 502. This list includes a first contact 520, a secondcontact 522, and a third contact 524.

In FIG. 6, dispatch system 502 attempts to call first contact 520 who isnot picking up their phone. Therefore, dispatch system 502 moves on tothe next contact in the list. In FIG. 7, dispatch system 502 attempts tocall second contact 522. The call is picked up, but by a voicemailsystem instead of a person. Following this, dispatch system 502 attemptsto call third contact 524 who picks up the phone, as seen in FIG. 8.After identifying that the call has been picked up by a person (and nota machine), dispatch system 502 plays audio message 510 for thirdcontact 524 as shown in FIG. 9.

Embodiments can include provisions for dispatching various other kindsof messages, including any kind of digital messages that include text,images, videos, and/or audio. In some cases, the digital messages couldbe SMS messages. SMS messages could be sent over any kind oftelecommunications network, including a cellular network and/or theInternet.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of an embodiment of an SMS message dispatchsystem 1000. As seen in FIG. 10, SMS message dispatch system 1000 is incommunication with a user 1002 and a network of message recipients 1004.SMS message dispatch system 1000, also referred to simply as dispatchsystem 1000, may comprise one or more computing systems includingprocessors 1010 and memory 1012. Memory 1012 may comprise anon-transitory computer readable medium. Instructions stored withinmemory 1012 may be executed by the one or more processors 1010. As oneexample, dispatch system 1000 may comprise one or more servers runningin the cloud.

Dispatch system 1000 is further comprised of an SMS module 1020 and anauthentication module 1022. Additionally, dispatch system 1000 includesdata storage 1030, which may be part of memory 1012. In other cases,data storage 1030 could be associated with a separate database.

SMS module 1020 is configured to receive texts from a user and sendtexts to one or more recipients. In addition, SMS module 1020 may beconfigured to receive and store various kinds of information. For eachuser of the system, SMS module 1020 stores user identificationinformation 1040. User identification information can include a user'sname, a user ID, or any other suitable personally identifyinginformation. Associated with each user of the system is a list ofcontacts, which may be stored as contact information 1042.

SMS module 1020 may also store message information 1044. Messageinformation may include text, audio, video and/or images left by a userof the system. Messages may be stored in any suitable format that can besent when dispatch system 100 has reached someone on the user's list ofcontacts.

Authentication module 1022 is configured to authenticate that therecipient of a message is a person and not a machine. For example,authentication module 1022 may be configured to detect if a responsesend by a recipient is generated by a bot or other automated system. Insome cases, authentication module 1022 may further include provisionsfor ensuring that a message is not only received, but also read and thatany multimedia information is listened to and/or viewed.

Authentication module 1022 may use one or more kinds of authenticationinformation 1046, which may be stored in data storage 1030.Authentication information 1046 can include any suitable informationused by dispatch system 1000 to determine that the recipient of an SMSmessage is a person. In some cases, authentication information 1046includes information pertaining to one or more kinds ofchallenge-response tasks that may be performed by authentication module1022 to determine if the recipient is a person rather than a machineand/or to confirm that the recipient is currently available to view themessage.

As seen in FIG. 10, dispatch system 1000 receives an incoming messagefrom a user 1002. In this case, user 1002 has prepared a message on asmartphone 1081. User 1002 may send an SMS message 1080 to a numberassociated with dispatch system 1000 via telecommunications network1070. In some cases, user 1002 may also provide user identificationinformation along with the SMS message so that dispatch system 1000knows which user is leaving a message and which network of recipientsshould be contacted.

FIG. 10 also depicts a network of recipients 1004 for the exemplary user1002. This includes a set of contacts whom user 1020 has identifiedbeforehand as suitable contacts to receive any messages. In thisexample, the contacts include a first recipient 1090 (the user'smother), a second recipient 1092 (the user's father), a third recipient1094 (the user's grandfather), and a fourth recipient 1096 (the user'sfriend). Upon receiving a message from user 1002, dispatch system 1000may begin sending messages to these recipients (using telecommunicationsnetwork 1070) until an available recipient is found, as described infurther detail below.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of a process of operating an SMS messagedispatch system, according to an embodiment. As indicated in FIG. 11,some of the steps in this process may be performed by the user of thesystem (user 1100), while other steps may be performed by the dispatchsystem (dispatch system 1101).

Starting in step 1102, a user 1100 may send an SMS message to dispatchsystem 1101. Dispatch system 1101 receives the SMS message in step 1104.In some cases, dispatch system 1101 also receive separate useridentification information. In other cases, user identificationinformation can be inferred from the number used to send the message.

In step 1106, dispatch system 1101 stores the SMS message including anymultimedia information (such as videos, audio clips and/or images). Instep 1108, dispatch system 1101 retrieves a list of contacts for user1100. In some cases, dispatch system 1101 uses the identificationinformation to lookup the user and their associated contact list. Instep 1010, dispatch system 1101 attempts to deliver the SMS message toat least one recipient in the user's contact list who is currentlyavailable to view to the message.

FIG. 12 depicts a sub-process 1200 associated with step 1110 in FIG. 2.Specifically, FIG. 12 depicts a set of steps that may be performed bydispatch system 1101 in order to deliver an SMS message to at least onerecipient who is available. Once the user's contact list has beenretrieved in step 1202, dispatch system 1101 may select one of therecipients in the contact last in step 1204. In some embodiments,contacts may be ranked within a list so that dispatch system 1101selects first the contact with the highest ranking. For example, if theuser is a student, the user may list his or her mother or father as thehighest ranked contact. This would ensure that the dispatch systemattempts to deliver the message to the student's parents before tryingextended relatives and/or friends. In other cases, however, the firstcontact to be texted may be selected randomly from a list of contacts.

In step 1206, dispatch system 1101 may send a preliminary message to theselected recipient with a request to respond. As determined in step1208, if the recipient fails to respond to the preliminary message,system 1101 may return to step 1204 to select another recipient in thecontact list. In some cases, dispatch system 1101 may wait apredetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) before selecting anotherrecipient. At this point the process repeats through step 1204, step1206 and step 1208 until a recipient responds to the preliminary messageto indicate they are available.

In step 1210, after a response is received, dispatch system 1101 may usea challenge-response type task to confirm that a person (and not amachine) is available to read to the SMS message immediately. Exemplarychallenge-response type tasks may include responding with answers tostraightforward questions, image CAPTCHA tasks, or other suitable tasks.

In some embodiments, the challenge-response task may also be used toconfirm that the person responding to the preliminary text is theselected recipient from the user's contact list and not another personwith access to intended recipient's devices. In such embodiments, thechallenge-response task could include asking the person to provide apredetermined password or other private information. By providing suchinformation, the person would simultaneously indicate that they are nota machine and also that they are the intended recipient of the SMSmessage.

If the recipient is determined to be unavailable in step 1212 based onthe challenge-response task provided in step 1210, dispatch system 1101may return to step 1204 to select another recipient from the contactlist. If, however, the recipient successfully completes thechallenge-response task, dispatch system 1101 proceeds to step 1214 todeliver the SMS message to the recipient.

Optionally, in some embodiments, the dispatch system could request thatthe recipient confirms that he or she has read the SMS message(including watching and/or listening to any multimedia attachments) instep 1216.

The processes and methods of the embodiments described in this detaileddescription and shown in the figures can be implemented using any kindof computing system having one or more central processing units (CPUs)and/or graphics processing units (GPUs). The processes and methods ofthe embodiments could also be implemented using special purposecircuitry such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Theprocesses and methods of the embodiments may also be implemented oncomputing systems including read only memory (ROM) and/or random accessmemory (RAM), which may be connected to one or more processing units.Examples of computing systems and devices include, but are not limitedto: servers, cellular phones, smart phones, tablet computers, notebookcomputers, e-book readers, laptop or desktop computers, all-in-onecomputers, as well as various kinds of digital media players.

The processes and methods of the embodiments can be stored asinstructions and/or data on non-transitory computer-readable media. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium may include any suitablecomputer readable medium, such as a memory, such as RAM, ROM, flashmemory, or any other type of memory known in the art. In someembodiments, the non-transitory computer readable medium may include,for example, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, anoptical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of suchdevices. More specific examples of the non-transitory computer readablemedium may include a portable computer diskette, a floppy disk, a harddisk, magnetic disks or tapes, a read-only memory (ROM), a random accessmemory (RAM), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compactdisc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or Flash memory), electrically erasable programmableread-only memories (EEPROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD and DVD-ROM),a memory stick, other kinds of solid state drives, and any suitablecombination of these exemplary media. A non-transitory computer readablemedium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitorysignals, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagneticwaves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or othertransmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-opticcable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

Instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium forcarrying out operations of the present invention may beinstruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, assembler instructions,machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode,firmware instructions, configuration data for integrated circuitry,state-setting data, or source code or object code written in any of oneor more programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or suitable language, and proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages.

Aspects of the present disclosure are described in association withfigures illustrating flowcharts and/or block diagrams of methods,apparatus (systems), and computing products. It will be understood thateach block of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams can be implemented bycomputer readable instructions. The flowcharts and block diagrams in thefigures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation ofpossible implementations of various disclosed embodiments. Accordingly,each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module,segment, or portion of instructions. In some implementations, thefunctions set forth in the figures and claims may occur in analternative order than listed and/or illustrated.

The embodiments may utilize any kind of network for communicationbetween separate computing systems. A network can comprise anycombination of local area networks (LANs) and/or wide area networks(WANs), using both wired and wireless communication systems. A networkmay use various known communications technologies and/or protocols.Communication technologies can include, but are not limited to:Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperability for microwave access(WiMAX), mobile broadband (such as CDMA, and LTE), digital subscriberline (DSL), cable internet access, satellite broadband, wireless ISP,fiber optic internet, as well as other wired and wireless technologies.Networking protocols used on a network may include transmission controlprotocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), multiprotocol label switching(MPLS), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), hypertext transport protocol(HTTP), hypertext transport protocol secure (HTTPS) and file transferprotocol (FTP) as well as other protocols.

Data exchanged over a network may be represented using technologiesand/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML), extensiblemarkup language (XML), Atom, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), YAML, aswell as other data exchange formats. In addition, informationtransferred over a network can be encrypted using conventionalencryption technologies such as secure sockets layer (SSL), transportlayer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security (Ipsec).

While various embodiments of the invention have been described, thedescription is intended to be exemplary, rather than limiting, and itwill be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many moreembodiments and implementations are possible that are within the scopeof the invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restrictedexcept in light of the attached claims and their equivalents. Also,various modifications and changes may be made within the scope of theattached claims.

We claim:
 1. A method of sending audio messages over atelecommunications network, the method comprising: receiving a call froma user; requesting user identification information from the user;receiving the requested user identification information from the user;recording an audio message from the user; retrieving a list of contactsassociated with the user identification information; automaticallycalling a first recipient from the list of contacts; determining thatthe first recipient is not available to immediately receive the audiomessage, wherein determining that the first recipient is not availableto immediately receive the audio message further includes: determiningthat the call to the first recipient has been connected; requesting thatthe first recipient perform a task; and determining that the firstrecipient has failed to perform the task; after determining that thefirst recipient is not available to immediately receive the audiomessage, automatically calling a second recipient from the list ofcontacts; and determining that the second recipient is available toimmediately receive the audio message; and upon the determining that thesecond recipient is available to immediately receive the audio message,delivering the audio message to the second recipient.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the telecommunications network is atelephone network.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the useridentification information includes at least a name.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the user identification informationincludes at least a phone number.
 5. The method according to claim 1,wherein the determining that the second recipient is available toimmediately receive the audio message further includes: determining thatthe call to the second recipient has been connected; requesting that thesecond recipient perform a task; and determining that the secondrecipient has performed the task.
 6. The method according to claim 1,wherein the task includes repeating a phrase.
 7. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the task includes entering a specified number using aphone.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the task includessolving an audio CAPTCHA problem.
 9. A method of sending short messageservice messages over a telecommunications network, the methodcomprising: receiving a short message service (SMS) message from a user,wherein: the SMS message includes user identification information; andthe SMS message includes text; retrieving a list of contacts associatedwith the user identification information; automatically sending a firstpreliminary message to a first recipient from the list of contacts;determining that the first recipient is not available to immediatelyview the SMS message, wherein determining that the first recipient isnot available to immediately view the SMS message further includes:requesting that the first recipient perform a task; and determining thatthe first recipient has failed to perform the task; after determiningthat the first recipient is not available to immediately view the SMSmessage, automatically sending a second preliminary message to a secondrecipient from the list of contacts; and determining that the secondrecipient is available to immediately view the SMS message; upon thedetermining that the second recipient is available to immediately viewthe SMS message, delivering the SMS message to the second recipient. 10.The method according to claim 9, wherein the task includes solving animage CAPTCHA problem.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein theSMS message includes multimedia information.
 12. The method according toclaim 9, wherein the determining that the second recipient is availableto immediately view the SMS message further includes: requesting thatthe second recipient perform a task; and determining that the secondrecipient has performed the task.
 13. The method according to claim 9,wherein the task includes answering a question.
 14. A message dispatchsystem for delivering messages to users over a telecommunicationsnetwork, comprising: a device processor; and a non-transitory computerreadable medium storing instructions that are executable by the deviceprocessor to implement: a messaging module that is configured toautomatically dispatch a user supplied message to recipients in a user'scontact list; and an authentication module that is configured toautomatically determine if a recipient is available to receive the usersupplied message, wherein the authentication module is configured todetermine if the recipient is available by asking the recipient toperform a challenge-response task; wherein the authentication module isfurther configured to: automatically call a first recipient from therecipients in the user's contact list; determine that the firstrecipient is not available to immediately receive the user suppliedmessage, wherein determining that the first recipient is not availableto immediately receive the user supplied message further includes:determining that the call to the first recipient has been connected;requesting that the first recipient perform the challenge-response task;and determining that the first recipient has failed to perform thechallenge-response task; after determining that the first recipient isnot available to immediately receive the user supplied message, theauthentication module is configured to automatically call a secondrecipient from the recipients in the user's contact list; and determinethat the second recipient is available to immediately receive the usersupplied message; and upon the determining that the second recipient isavailable to immediately receive the audio message, the authenticationmodule is configured to deliver the user supplied message to the secondrecipient.
 15. The message dispatch system according to claim 14,wherein the user supplied message is an audio message.
 16. The messagedispatch system according to claim 14, wherein the challenge-responsetask is to ask the recipient to enter a specified number.
 17. Themessage dispatch system according to claim 14, wherein thechallenge-response task is to ask the recipient to repeat a phrase. 18.The message dispatch system according to claim 14, wherein the messagingmodule is further configured to send text messages to one or morerecipients in the user's contact list.
 19. The message dispatch systemaccording to claim 18, wherein the messaging module sends a preliminarymessage to each recipient in the user's contact list to determine if therecipient is available to immediately view the user supplied messagebefore delivering the user supplied message to the recipient.
 20. Themessage dispatch system according to claim 14, wherein the messagingdispatch system includes a database for storing user identificationinformation that is used to identify a user calling in with a message.